Being more of an "ingenue" for international travel (I've been 4 times to Europe), I didn't realize that check-in was required an hour prior to departure when I left for my flight home from Paris yesterday. When I arrived at the Delta check in in 2C, the agent up front said it was too late, as it was aprox. 52 minutes prior to departure already.

Another agent with a walkie talkie was standing nearby and I asked him "est-ce qu'il n y a pas quel que chose qu'on pourrait faire" (isn't there anything that can be done?) So he proceeded to speak to someone in the walkie talkie, to verify that I could still check in. Five minutes later, after confirming my seat was not given away (there had already been stand-bys for the flight) he escorted me personally all the way from check-in, through security, up to the gate itself!

I have never had this happen at any US airport, more often it has been "sorry, you're SOL", and this experience really demonstrates to me how:

1) It is much better to assume that people would be willing to help you rather than assuming "the Delta agents at CDG are difficult" and

2) Knowing a few words of the local lingo is very helpful.

I was truly amazed at the number of Americans who I ran into over the past two weeks who not only didn't know any of the language of the countries they were in, but also didn't even bring a dictionary. Not only is it presumptious to assume that everyone is willing and able to speak in English, but it's also very helpless kind of stance that lets people know how easily you can be taken advantage of!

Moi, je suis Americain, mais je dois insister que la majorite des Francais ne veulent pas parler Francais avec moi. Les gens veulent mettre en pratique leur capacite de parler Anglais avec moi...!

Als Amerikaner ich mu� aber darauf bestehen, da� die mei�ten Deutschen, mit denen ich unterhalte, wollen kein Deutsch mit mir reden. Eigentlich sehen sie mich als Gelegenheit, ihre englisch Sprachf�higkeit zu verbessern.

Sono americano ma devo dire ch'il maggior parte d'italiani non vologno parlare italiano con me. In realta' vologno utilisarmi per potere attivare il loro inglese.

As an American, I have found that the majority of French/Germans/Italians whom I encounter do not want to speak French/German/Italian with me. Rather, they use me as an opportunity to practice their English.

It might be presumptuous to assume that everyone speaks English (but honestly, in the tourist/travel industry, they mostly do as it is the common tongue) and I agree that trying some of the local language is beneficial, but I cannot count the number of smirks, snide looks and immediate replies in (often flawed) English which I have received after communicating in the local language.

It does go both ways.

Honestly, I am only able to speak English and the way I see it is if I try and speak their language (which I will screw up from the first word), they are more apt to be offended that I am slaughtering their language.

In fact twice while trying(looking every word up and trying my best to phonetically pronounce it) to speak their language I have been stopped and instructed to speak English as they would better understand what I am saying.

Now, I own one of the great talking translators from the Sharper Image and people seem to take very well to it.

Dan

Although I do attempt to learn at least a little of the language of the country I am visiting, it's simply not possible for me to become fluent in French just to visit Paris for a few days. And I find that when I try to use my feeble little phrases, I am met more often with annoyance than with gratitude. They pretty much always speak English far better than I speak French, so they'd rather just speak English.

As far as I'm concerned, if someone wants my money they'll have to speak to me in English. I guess I'm an ugly American.

Before I go to any foreign country I make sure I know the following phrases:

Please
Thank you
Good morning
Good day
Good evening
May I please have (another) beer
Check please
Where is the restroom
I'm sorry, I only speak enough [languange] to order a beer and find the restroom.

It is truly amazing how far this can get you...

-=tg=-

Had similar experience in Venice a few years back. On business trip, our handlers mis-scheduled our van to the airport. Desk agents scolded us for being late, then qithout question took wonderful care of us. Check us in, escorted through security, got us to gate. Scolding us the whole time in a very sweet, animated Italian way. She was cute as could be too. Can't imagine it happening in USA. Even more remote possibility is getting any sort of help from ASA in ATL. They wouldn't help you if you O/B flight was at next gate!

BTW - the "must learn" phrase list eerily mirrors my own, except that I usually put beer and restroom at the tp. Priorities.

I'm glad to hear you had a good experience at CDG, pgalore. What you encountered was exactly the opposite of what I endured in the exact same situation there several years ago. Perhaps things have improved, though I doubt it.

In any case I disagree. First, the phrase "est-ce qu'il n y a pas quel que chose qu'on pourrait faire" consitutes more than "a few words of the local lingo" for the non-French speaker, particularly in a time-critical situation. Surely you didn't look this up in a dictionary while standing there.

Secondly it is not "presumptious" <sic> to assume that "everyone is willing and able to speak in English" at Delta Air Lines. Delta is an American company. Do you think Air France hires people in the U.S. who are unwilling or unable to speak in French? Yet at CDG I found that some DL employees at CDG treat English-speaking customers with obvious disdain, possibly because they "know how easily you can be taken advantage of."

When dining at a left-bank restaurant I do not expect the employees to speak English. At Delta Air Lines I do.

The DELTA employees I have encountered at CDG have been good to very good. The AIR FRANCE employees I have encountered at CDG (particularly at check-in) have been downright awful to indifferent.

I had the opposite experience with AF. I had a very tight connection (50 mins) from an ATH-CDG to a CDG-BOS flight. I had missed that connection on the outbound, but on the inbound, AF had an employee with a cart just for the 3 of us headed to BOS. He got us through security and the terminal than if we had been on our own.

I think you missed my first point which was, if you assume that someone will be unwilling to help you, that negative outlook may on a subconscious level effect your interaction with them, and basically be self-fullfilling. I'm sure that you would agree that it is better to have a postive outlook, and hope for the best.

Well, yes my French is pretty good actually, and this is something I'm quite proud of. But what I really meant was the same as what others had said: know and use "merci", "pardonnez-moi", etc. It really makes a much more positive impression, and people are more willing to help in general.

Yes, I've also received the snide looks before also. My grammer and accent could be improved, sans doute. My experience is that in Paris, the snide looks tend to be given out much more readily than in other parts of France or Europe. "Fier" is a word I would use to describe how many French feel about their language. And rightly so, for (at least to me) it is a very beautiful sounding language. However, I do also think that it is also just common courtesy to try to speak the local language, or "when in Rome, do as the Romans do".

One of the places I visited over the past two weeks was in the South of France, and some of the people I was working with did not speak very much English at all. So I asked them, (en francais) "would you rather speak in English or French" Of course, they said that they would rather speak in French. For most people, it is much easier and natural for them to converse in their native tongue, no matter how much English they've learned.

Excuse me, but I did not say specifically "Delta Airlines". I was referring to Europe as a whole, not specifying American companies in Europe. I actually do agree with you that American chains in Europe should have more English speaking employees, and from my experience, they do.

The point is (which seems to have been largely missed) that people enjoy speaking in their native tongue, and it shows courtesy to try to speak the language rather than not even make the attempt.

As far as being taken advantage of, while I did not witness this recently, I only suggested it because it seems like it could very easily happen. In Germany, going to the airport with two other non-Deutsch speaking Americans I met in the hotel, the taxi driver told us it was a flat funf und dreizig.. He did not speak very much English and the Americans spoke no German. He could have very well charged them funf und achtzig, and they would have been none the wiser - because they had no clue as to what he was saying!

I really have not encountered this, the majority of people that I met were sehr nett und gentile, I only put it out there to demonstrate how easy it is to take advantage of someone who has no clue as to what is being said.

If you don't want to be courteous, if you don't want to receive special treatment, and if you want to run the risk of being taken advantage of, by all means, speak and understand only English when travelling abroad - and don't bring a dictionary with you either!

pgalore, you do make some excellent points - for instance, it is very important to know some key local words to avoid getting ripped off and just as a common courtesy.

...but I'm not sure I agree with you 100%. Perhaps it's just me, but I've found in many cases that more people in France, Germany and Italy than any other country, won't even let me speak in the local language - despite that I usually do so quite well. When I try, they will respond in English. I find that to be extremely discourteous. In fact, I have had complete conversations with me speaking in German and the person responding in English. This doesn't happen with everyone, of course, but it seems to happen in these countries quite readily. Perhaps it's a cultural thing. Then again, I know hardly any Swedish or Dutch, but absolutely everyone who's got a reasonable education can speak English anyway.

It's not just the ugly American/British influence, however. Like it or not, English has become the language of commerce and the Internet. It's the most common second language there is. What language do you think the Japanese businessman/woman in Europe is going to be communicating in? Nine times out of ten, it will be English.

I believe that one of my most outstanding airport experiences was in Turkey. I was flying from Ankara (ESB) to JFK on TK and had to connect in IST.

Upon exiting the plane in IST I was greeted by a young cute TK employee who escorted me to the CIP lounge for my short wait till the JFK flight boarded.

She was sweet and did I say cute? Anyway, she asked if it was alright if she tried to practice her English with me as she gets very few chances to speak English. It was really fun just talking for the sake of talking as she and I walked to the club.

Along our short walk I learned a few words of Turkish and she improved her English skills. We now keep in touch via email and she crashed at my place when she visited the states.

However, on the whole I have found that if I speak in English I have never been rebuffed or taken advantage of. One country in particular where English seems to be readily spoken is Switzerland. Every city that I have visited the people I have encountered have always spoken some English and usually with very little of an accent.

Dan

How "presumptious" to assume that because I disagreed that meant I "missed the point". I could, however, only respond to what was actually posted, rather than what you "really meant."

I suggest you reread the original post. First you crowed about your superior French abilities and the "special treatment" this afforded you at CDG. Then you claimed this demonstrated that "knowing a few words of the local lingo is very helpful". That is an illogical conclusion since, as you admit, the incident involved quite a bit more French than could be thus described.

Personally I think the incident you cite is a prime example of the inferior service non-French speakers may encounter at CDG. Delta (an American company) should provide this level of service whether a customer speaks fluent French or nary a word.

The second part of the original post decries the inferior great unwashed Americans you encountered on your trip. Lacking your French fluency, these miserable wretches are evidently so ignorant they don't even know they should carry a dictionary.

Since I disagreed you chose (while knowing absolutely nothing about me) to lump me with these unfortunates. A final, smug rolling eyes "smiley" concludes the argument, if you can call it one.

Just for the record, when travelling abroad I always try to use the local language to the best of my ability. It would be nice if I could be fluent in all the world's languages, but that isn't possible. And in my experience, saying "bonjour Madame", "merci", etc. can be helpful many places, but at CDG (and the Gare du Nord) it counts for nada.

The French have a particular chip on their shoulder regarding English. No doubt this stems from the fact that English has completely displaced French as the international language. This change has been going on for 200 years or so, but maybe they will never get over it. I don't have to admire their attitude, just cope with it. The trend seems unlikely to reverse as French is no longer even among the world's top 10 languages spoken as a mother tongue.

Glad to see you understand who you are.... I would never assume folks in another country speak English. When they come here using your logic, you had better speak thier language and since Americans as a whole have the WORST language skills....

Also, I realize the OP is not a frequent European traveler, but DL and all other airlines advise two hours for International travel and my experience has been that you need it!